International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-10-12 14:17:19

tweet from few days ago

'Expedition 67 has concluded on board the ISS, wrapping up a mission of CubeSat deployments and science investigations. While SpaceX Crew-5 has arrived to join Expedition 68, Crew-4 is preparing to return to Earth.'
https://twitter.com/TGMetsFan98/status/ … 6105805824

Watch SpaceX Crew-4 mission depart space station Wednesday
https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-4-spa … re-webcast

Soyuz MS-22 is a Russian Soyuz spaceflight to the International Space Station with a crew of three launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 21 September 2022
https://www.americaspace.com/2022/08/23 … dition-68/

Soyuz MS-23 planned for 2023
https://twitter.com/SpaceGirlLina/statu … 2595094529

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-10-15 15:03:56

Koichi Wakata Talks with Japanese Media
(Translated Live)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWNAbJ3DcWs

Splashdown of Dragon confirmed
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1581026482213691392

Welcome home SpaceX Crew4 astronauts after a 170-day ISS Research mission that began on April 27!
https://twitter.com/Space_Station/statu … 8106163202

'Beautiful Hokkaido, second largest island & northernmost prefecture, a panoramic view. Taken from the dome on the ISS. Have a great day everyone!'

美しい北海道の全景です。ISSのキューポラから撮影しました。皆さんどうぞ良い一日を！

https://twitter.com/Astro_Wakata/status … 4932532224

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-10-15 15:17:19)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-10-16 19:15:15

'Astro_Kjell has been one of the most active hamradio operators on the ISS in a long time!'

https://twitter.com/ARISS_status/status … 5931431937

Terrific trees and R U OK?

https://www.abc.net.au/kidslisten/news- … s/14047864

Argentine students talk to space station using ham radio

http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2022/s … -radio.htm

Lindgren seems to have contected people by radio on the ISS and talked all over the world, he talked live and direct to students from the school at the Argentine base Esperanza in Antarctica. He was assigned as Commander of SpaceX Crew-4 with Robert Hines, Samantha Cristoforetti, Jessica Watkins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3eXdwUego8&t=1435s

SpaceNut · 2022-10-16 19:47:20

There is a lot going on with station use these days and the lack of media coverage is the issue for why so many cannot understand the high cost of operation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_NASA

where does the money go for the US states

https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/ … 022-budget

NASA's budget is $24.04 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2022, $800 million less than the President's Budget Request of $24.8 billion.

Though the fiscal year began in October of 2021, the final congressional legislation was not passed until March of 2022, six months late.

https://www.space.com/nasa-budget-reque … n-for-2023

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-10-26 19:09:04

NASA invites media to SpaceX’s 26th resupply launch to the space station, targeted no earlier than Nov. 9 from NASAKennedy. Dragon will deliver supplies, solar arrays, and new science, including a study that will grow tomatoes!

https://twitter.com/Space_Station/statu … 2834997252

SpaceNut · 2022-10-26 19:42:47

some more on that flight
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_CRS-26

https://spacecoastdaily.com/2022/10/nas … e-station/

On another note, Space x did get some more ships for the ISS as a result of Boeing failing to get their ship going.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-10-29 09:51:52

A healthy diet could help astronauts better adapt to the stresses of spaceflight.
https://twitter.com/ISS_Research/status … 0240059393
Researchers are assessing how an enhanced spaceflight diet affects the immune system, gut microbiome, and nutrition.

SpaceNut · 2022-11-07 21:28:00

The most recent launch of a Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Fails to Deploy Solar Array Shortly After Launch

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft had an early launch on Monday, November 7 at 5:32 a.m. ET from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Space Port. The expendable freighter is carrying 8,200 pounds of cargo to the ISS and is scheduled to arrive at the orbiting space station on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman did inform NASA that Cygnus, despite having only one functioning solar array, has enough power to continue the rest of its journey and rendezvous with the ISS on Wednesday.

tahanson43206 · 2022-11-09 18:37:21

Following up on the post by SpaceNut #633

The Cygnus made a soft landing at the ISS .... the lack of the redundant solar panel did not hinder the flight. What it ** did ** do was to show (for the upteenth time) the wisdom of planning redundant systems.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cargo-ship-r … 05906.html

MARCIA DUNN
Wed, November 9, 2022 at 10:16 AM
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A Northrop Grumman capsule delivered several tons of supplies to the International Space Station on Wednesday despite a jammed solar panel.
The shipment arrived two days after launching from Virginia. Only one of the cargo ship’s two round solar panels opened following liftoff. Flight controllers tried in vain to open the stuck panel, but managed to draw enough power for the flight with just one.
As the capsule made its slow approach, the space station crew took pictures so engineers might understand what went wrong. NASA astronaut Nicole Mann then used the station's robot arm to grab the spacecraft, dubbed the S.S. Sally Ride in honor of America's first woman in space.
Among the 8,200 pounds (3,700 kilograms) of supplies: brackets needed for a spacewalk next week to expand the station's power, as well as apples, blueberries, cheese, peanut butter and ice cream for the station's U.S., Russian and Japanese crew of seven.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2022-11-23 10:28:48

Weather delayed launch of Space x Falcon to the ISS.
Launch of rocket carrying UNH experiment rescheduled for Saturday due to weather

“We have been working on this project since August of 2020,” said Sydney Rollins, Novel Methods of Antibiotic Discovery in Space project co-lead.
The NoMADS project is sending soil samples to the International Space Station to see how the bacteria in the soil react to microgravity.
The UNH team worked with middle schoolers in Newington to prepare the experiment.
“We all trekked out there into Newington Town Forest last Saturday and all the kids and the teacher and the team collected the soil together,” Rollins said.
Once reaching zero gravity, the team hopes the experiment will provide critical information that could lead to new medical treatments.
“And we're also hoping that because they'll be stressed out because of new conditions, that they'll go into one of their stress responses, which happens to be producing antibiotics,” Rollins said.

Seems interesting to know the response of earth bacteria to zero G of the station.

SpaceNut · 2022-12-16 20:50:43

This shows the danger in not having enough capable ships to bring man up or down from the station.
Three Astronauts May Be Stranded on the ISS After Disturbing Soyuz Coolant Leak

ad3f2fcae36c9ceb343f96a6a1e4c5d8

Soyuz spacecraft’s “external casing” on the service module appears to have sustained damage, resulting in the leak,

SpaceX Crew Dragon in October for their six-month mission. However, the Crew Dragon would not be able to accommodate that many people on a return trip to Earth.

GW Johnson · 2022-12-17 10:25:42

The "micrometeroid" strike blamed by the Russians is looking more like a space debris strike to me.

Most but not all the debris the ISS has had to maneuver to avoid the last couple of years, traces to the Russian anti-satellite test a couple of years ago. I would say it serves them right, except that everybody aboard is now suffering from that stupidity.

If memory serves, the crew Dragon has seats for up to 7. If they send it up unmanned, or with 1 crew, then up to 6 aboard ISS could be brought home. That's what a rescue mission launch might look like.

The crew Dragon has life support for a couple of weeks for a full crew, but has an orbital lifetime of 6-7 months as an unmanned item docked to the station. It simply has twice or more the seating capacity of a Soyuz.

If the ISS crew is really threatened by something, there is a way home for up to 7 crew if a Dragon is docked at the station. You would need 2 Soyuz capsules for the same lifeboat capacity, up to 6 crew on ISS. Crews have generally been 3 or 6 at a time.

Spacenut: it appears you should stock up and hunker down for a sharp cold/snow/ice event headed your way.

GW

Last edited by GW Johnson (2022-12-17 14:16:10)

SpaceNut · 2022-12-17 17:42:37

Have dug out this morning to about 4" of wet snow that was heavy. Done so I could start my household chores or bringing rubbish to the dump, and many other tasks in the 2005 Subaru Forester that is getting quite a few other codes being captured due to being wet. Of course, we are seeing rain for the remainder of the day.

I think that the crewed dragon that is at the station was set up with just 4 seats.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Crew-5

GW Johnson · 2022-12-18 11:46:19

Spacenut:

I think you may be right about a 4-seat Dragon at ISS. Yet the revealed prototypes had 7 seats. That was 4 above, and 3 below. I would recommend that they fly it with all 7 seats, occupied or not, in case an evacuation or a rescue is needed.

GW

tahanson43206 · 2022-12-18 12:22:58

For GW Johnson re #639

Now !!! would be a good time to send up an empty capsule with 7 seats, to serve as an emergency lifeboat while the Russians replace their capsule.

Any resident of Texas has the right to post a comment/suggestion/request to the web site of their two Senators and one Congressperson.

That's a total of three web sites where a resident of Texas can drop off a recommendation.

The NewMars forum is certainly a good place to start, because there is more than one resident of Texas in the forum membership.

I'd like to think there may be additional residents of Texas who are readers of the forum.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2022-12-28 20:42:57

Seems that we have only one answer
NASA mulls SpaceX backup plan for crew of Russia's leaky Soyuz ship

NASA and Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, are investigating the cause of a punctured coolant line on an external radiator of Russia's Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, which emptied the Soyuz of a vital fluid used to regulate crew cabin temperatures, has derailed Russia's space station routines, with engineers in Moscow examining whether to launch another Soyuz to retrieve the three-man team that flew to ISS aboard the crippled MS-22 craft.
The leaky Soyuz capsule ferried U.S. astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dimitri Petelin to the space station in September for a six-month mission. They were scheduled to return to Earth in March 2023.

SpaceNut · 2022-12-29 15:15:24

Nasa is continuing to work the issue
A Crew Dragon spacecraft (named Endeavor) is already docked to the ISS, and theoretically more seats could be added to that mission when it is supposed to come back to Earth next year. But that mission is already filled up with four people: NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina.

Another option would be for NASA to prioritize a new SpaceX Crew Dragon launch to the ISS specifically to pick up the three crew members who were supposed to come back on Soyuz: NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dimitri Petelin.

GW Johnson · 2022-12-30 09:59:34

As I said in post 639 above, Dragon is capable of 7 seats: 4 above, 3 below. They should have been flying it with 7 seats all along, even if the extras are unoccupied, just to have that rescue capability. I am quite disappointed that no one at NASA thought of that. Why have to wait for a rescue launch, when you could have at least some rescue capability built-in, just in your regular operations?

GW

tahanson43206 · 2022-12-30 11:03:38

For GW Johnson re #643

Are you sure that no one at NASA thought of wasting all those kilograms of mass instead of shipping payload?

Some grumpy supervisor probably whacked the errant NASA employee with a cost-benefit-analysis document, rolled into a tube for greater effect.

In the tradeoff between unlikely possibilities and likely ones, the unlikely tend to remain in the background until they are present, at which point they become emergencies.

Now that we have history of Soyuz failure, the temptation to waste mass on unneeded seats may exceed the counter arguments, but even there, I'll bet the immediate need almost ** always ** supersedes the unlikely scenario.

(th)

Void · 2022-12-30 11:49:54

I generally don't like getting into professional level conversations, but I would ask if a compromise were possible where extra seats could be stored in the ISS for such emergencies. Would it be possible for the staff on the station to install them when needed.?

Of course, that might only cover an emergency where you had the time and resources to install them. So, it would not cover all possible emergencies.

This is mostly a question from a self-recognized amateur.

Done.

SpaceNut · 2022-12-30 12:02:09

The trade is cargo space and mass via removal of not needed seat mass. Just did a check of scheduled cygnus cargo to the ISS and it returned that last sent for informatio:

Northrop Grumman and NASA are set to fly the NG-18 Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station from Wallops Island, Virginia. Liftoff atop an Antares 230+ rocket is slated for 5:50 a.m. EST Nov. 6, 2022, from Pad 0A at the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

Then updated the search for the increment of the flight numbering and got:

NG-19 is the nineteenth planned flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its sixteenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) contract with NASA. The mission is scheduled to launch in March 2023. This is the eighth launch of Cygnus under the CRS-2 contract.

So the question is why the rush to return them if they can wait 3 more months to send up the seating to place into the capsule that is already there.

crew-5 is currently on the station with the next launch of crew-6 due in coming months.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/t … 6-mission/
Nov 03, 2022 · NASA and SpaceX are targeting mid-February 2023, for launch of the agency’s Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Crew-6

tahanson43206 · 2022-12-30 15:39:34

For SpaceNut re #646

Your post contains a question about "why the rush" ....

I don't claim to know the answer, but I would offer this as a place for you to look for the answer: Rule: safety exit must be available at all times.

If this ** is ** the rule (and I don't ** know ** that it is) and if the Soyuz is unusable, then the rule is violated.

If the ISS has a disaster tomorrow, only four crew can safely return.

Your suggestion of sending SpaceX seats up in another vehicle is interesting and it might be feasible to send seats to the station.

Will they fit through the airlocks? If not, can you think of a way to install them in the SpaceX capsule. There may well be a way.

Looking forward to your creative thinking. This is a real and present problem, and everyone on Earth has an equal chance to think of a solution.

(th)

GW Johnson · 2022-12-30 15:59:34

There is cargo that goes up unpressurized, and on a Dragon flight, it resides in the trunk. There is also cargo that requires pressurization, and it rides up inside the Dragon capsule hull. It rides up in the space below the 4 seats they have been flying. That is the same space where the other 3 seats could go.

I don't know the details, but it would seem to me that that cargo requiring pressurization could be stowed in duffle bags, and those duffel bags could ride up lashed into the other 3 seats with the seat belts. The extra weight reduces total payload a bit, but not all that much. Payload to a more equatorial low orbit was listed (at one time) as 3 metric tons in the trunk and 3 metric tons inside the hull. Payload to the high-inclination ISS orbit has been running about half that, or about a ton and a half in each location.

If the seats are near 100 kg each, and I'd bet they are lighter than that, 3 seats cost you 0.3 ton out of about 3 tons of payload to ISS. That's only 10%! Small price to pay for a rescue capability that was not recognized as necessary until the Soyuz got damaged.

The damaged Soyuz can be flown home, but not with a crew aboard. I got the distinct impression from what I have read, that any crew would die of heatstroke before they could land, and maybe even before starting entry.

By the way, Boeing's Starliner only has 4 seats, and no room for any extras.

Until Spacex started flying crew Dragons to ISS, post-shuttle ISS crews have always numbered 3 or 6. That way, 1 or 2 Soyuz could get them all home in an emergency. That does assume that no Soyuz gets inoperable while docked at ISS, something we now know to be a poor assumption, although seemingly rare in occurrence.

ISS crews started numbering 7 only after crew Dragon started flying to ISS. That requires a Soyuz and a Dragon for evacuation, or else 3 not 2 Soyuz available docked at ISS, if a Dragon isn't there. Soyuz has only 3 seats, and those are very crowded. Under the assumption that no spacecraft is rendered unusable while docked, that upgrade to 7 with Dragon seemed like a good idea for ISS crew size.

But in view of what happened to that Soyuz, they need to rethink ISS crew sizes as well as the number of seats aboard Dragon. They've not been thinking "suspenders, belt, and armored codpiece", but they should.

GW

Last edited by GW Johnson (2022-12-30 16:05:03)

SpaceNut · 2022-12-30 16:33:20

I was going to suggest making use of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_CRS-26 but Cargo Dragon does not include SuperDraco abort engines, seats, cockpit controls or life support system needed on a Crew Dragon...and of course the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_NG-18 is not any better for repurposing if total escape of all onboard is required.

GW Johnson · 2023-01-04 16:19:46

Latest reports indicate NASA is talking with SpaceX about sending a crew Dragon up as rescue or lifeboat, if the Russians decide their damaged Soyuz cannot safely carry its crew home, and cannot get another Soyuz up there in time. The risk is the crew dying of heatstroke before they can land, possibly before they even start entry. Cabin temperatures apparently soar once you turn any systems on.

I reiterate my recommendation from #648 above: crewed Dragons should always fly with all 7 seats aboard, whether these are all occupied or not. Crews of 3 to 4 brought up by such a Dragon, would then have the capability of bring up to 7 crew home in an emergency. I crudely estimated the payload loss for the weight of the extra seats at under 10% what they typically transport to ISS. There's no excuse not to do this.

I also reiterate my other recommendation: that NASA talk with FAA about finally letting SpaceX go fly its Starship/Superheavy out of Boca Chica. NASA is going to need the lunar variant of Starship as its lander for Artemis, and they will need "something" to be its refueling tanker in that insane Gateway orbit, if they expect to fly the Artemis-3 mission anytime before the decade ends.

It takes significant schedule time to make something experimental into something flightworthy, and if you are using the "fly it, break it, fly another version" approach SpaceX has been using, the post-failure analyses add significantly to the schedule time. Particularly with over-bureaucratized NASA in recent decades.

GW

Last edited by GW Johnson (2023-01-04 16:20:05)

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#626 2022-10-12 14:17:19

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#627 2022-10-15 15:03:56

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#628 2022-10-16 19:15:15

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#629 2022-10-16 19:47:20

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#630 2022-10-26 19:09:04

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#631 2022-10-26 19:42:47

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#632 2022-10-29 09:51:52

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#633 2022-11-07 21:28:00

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#634 2022-11-09 18:37:21

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#635 2022-11-23 10:28:48

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#636 2022-12-16 20:50:43

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#637 2022-12-17 10:25:42

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#638 2022-12-17 17:42:37

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#639 2022-12-18 11:46:19

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#640 2022-12-18 12:22:58

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#641 2022-12-28 20:42:57

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#642 2022-12-29 15:15:24

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#643 2022-12-30 09:59:34

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#644 2022-12-30 11:03:38

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#645 2022-12-30 11:49:54

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#646 2022-12-30 12:02:09

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#647 2022-12-30 15:39:34

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#648 2022-12-30 15:59:34

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#649 2022-12-30 16:33:20

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

#650 2023-01-04 16:19:46

Re: International Space Station (ISS / Alpha)

Board footer